pleasure in simple things

happiness in white

May 9, 2012

joy in spring flowers

I love white. Checking out my gardens at this time of year brings me both happiness and sadness….happiness for the white, and, sadness for the white. I so adore all varieties of white flowers, but seeing them in bloom in my garden reminds me that my original plan to have all my gardens exclusively in white (a virgin garden), did not come to fruition. It just got so difficult to find white varieties that I eventually gave in to purchasing varieties in other colors. I still do my best to find all the white I can. And, when I get my annuals, I pick mostly white…the last few years I have been loving euporbia (diamond frost…the poinsettia relative) in my containers. I still mourn my white forsythia…one of my favorite ‘whites’, but apparently it just did not like my yard….

Deutzia gracilis Nikko

Dicentra spectabilis Alba Bleeding Heart

Syringa vulgaris White Lilac

Galium odorata Sweet woodruff

Convallaria majalis Lily-of-the-Valley

So for now, everything is blooming white and all is right in the garden. :)

12 comments

beachy pencil gift idea

May 6, 2012

mother’s day diy

I still enjoy a beautiful paper product and pretty writing utensils. I am sure this is also true for many women from older generations…our moms and grandmothers, can also appreciate these ‘old school’ items. Maybe pencils are a little nostalgic in this day and age, but I still think they make a nice gift; even if providing nothing else but a memory of a bygone era!

For this gift, I had white pencils imprinted and packaged them in a plastic tube for a practical and inexpensive gift idea. I used a beach theme and the imprints I ordered for the pencils related to my theme:

life is a beach
sand & sea
message in a bottle
sand under my feet
sand dollars and seahorses
gonna need a bigger boat (no, I didn’t really use this one)

In keeping with the beach theme, you could also use the name or names of your favorite beaches, names of songs related to the beach, or song lyrics (think Beach Boys), surfer lingo (hang ten, surf’s up), quotes, your mom’s favorite sayings (“it’s gonna freeze like that”, “kids day is every day”), etc. …you get the idea. The pencils I ordered had a maximum of 30 characters, so I planned accordingly. Maybe you already have some cool ideas for a Father’s Day set?

Ordering information for imprinted pencils is included at the end of this post.

I personalized a gift tag by putting a photo on one side and a favorite saying on the other. Then, I simply punched a hole in the corner to tie onto the gift.

Here is the finished gift…I tied on a piece of ribbon and raffia and attached the gift tag and a small sand dollar.

Ordering notes: I purchased the pencils at www.lillianvernon.com White pencils are item 800247 and a set of 12 is $9.99 (they were on sale for $5.98 when I purchased them). The same imprint is required on all twelve pencils, so you will need to order more sets if you want assorted sayings or quotes. If you are making more than one set, 24 pencils can be ordered for $14.99 on the same website as item 810260. Remember though, only one imprint per set. The plastic tubes came from www.thinkgarnish.com They are called ‘clear plastic tubes with caps’. (I have also used them for candy or straws.) They are priced at $1.60 each. Eight pencils fit nicely into a tube. Decide how many gift sets you want to make in advance so you can plan on the number of tubes and pencils and how many different imprints you will choose. I have already planned out some Christmas gift pencils that I will package without the tubes…more on that when I start my holiday projects. The gift tags I had personalized with my own beach photo (my favorite beach cottage…old black and whites of family beach trips work well also) and a favorite quote on the back. This is really easy to do online using www.cardstore.com Choose ‘stationery’ at the top of the site and then ‘personalized gift tags’. You can order 25 for $15. and incorporate your favorite photo. Put your imagination to work! Contact me if you have any questions or need ideas for a particular theme. Have fun with it!

4 comments

chef irvine in the house

May 4, 2012

field trip friday

I am slightly obsessed…okay maybe a little more than slightly… with shows on the Food Network. That being said, you can only imagine how excited I was when I found out that Restaurant Impossible had chosen a restaurant IN CONNECTICUT to feature on the show! If you haven’t seen the show, the premise is that a failing restaurant is transformed in two days with $10,000 and a lot of ingenuity. Chef Robert Irvine stars in the show, revamping every facet – including the concept, décor (utilizing a design team), and menu to makeover the chosen restaurant. Two days sounds like a quick turnaround to totally makeover a restaurant…and, it certainly is, but actually witnessing the process up close and personal rather than watching it on television makes the whole process even more amazing.

Stella’s updated look…with a lemon motif.

I drove by and checked out the activity during the two days the workmen toiled in the makeshift tents set up in the parking lot of Stella’s (the restaurant they transformed). Everything seemed pretty low key…granted, the workmen were VERY busy, but there were no other people, like me, that wanted to check on the progress…at least not while I was there. A friend that lives near the restaurant said he saw Chef Irvine in the nearby Dunkin Donuts hanging out and being very personable, but unfortunately I didn’t happen to be buying coffee at the appropriate time to be able to witness his demeanor.

One of the tasty appetizers I enjoyed at Stella’s.

Anyway, it definitely was an impressive restaurant overhaul….not just in respect to the aesthetics of the place, but also updating the menu. Chef Irvine tweaked the menu selections and gave suggestions on food presentation. I think the part that impressed me most, when I actually sat down to dinner, was the energy from the employees….they certainly had to be exhausted and emotionally drained after the intense two days they had been through, but everyone was so friendly, and…the best word to describe them … energized.

It will be fun to watch the design team create this room divider when the episode airs in July.

The restaurant just needed a little attention to rediscover itself. (Don’t we all!) Who doesn’t like a good makeover? A tired, dated restaurant benefited from an updated look and some new energy…breathing life into an old favorite. I have to think the experience made the entire crew closer to each other and their community. I will definitely be visiting the “new” Stella’s again. Hopefully, this new-found energy continues beyond opening weekend. The episode doesn’t air until July, but the photos here provide you with a sneak peek of the facelift.

Michael Savoie’s family has been in the restaurant business since 1919. He has owned and operated Stella’s since 1998.

The ‘energized’ Stella’s crew posing with Chef Irvine.

My favorite? Popeye Pizza made with fresh tomato, spinach, ricotta cheese & fresh garlic.

7 comments

fifty shades of…oh, my goodness!

May 3, 2012

meeting erika leonard (aka e. l. james), author of fifty shades of grey

Fifty Shades of Grey author appearance in Connecticut

I walked into a ballroom with seating for over 1,000 – a black feather boa had been placed on each chair…that certainly sets a mood. Appetizers were passed and a line, too long to wait in, was formed at the cash bar. Where am I?

Tonight I spent the evening with 1,400 women listening to a conversation with Fifty Shades of Grey author E. L. James – the author responsible for number one, number two, and number three of the bestselling books in the country. A woman named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people in the world (really?! Come on!) You wouldn’t expect to find a black feather boa as a favor on your chair if you were coming to listen to an author with those credentials, would you? Or, expect that the biggest crowd response of the night was after a fan commented to the author “could you please package your Christmas trilogy with silver balls?”

Photo of Fifty Shades of Grey author Ms. James on the left and Ms. Coady, owner of R.J. Julia’s Booksellers, on the right.

Looking like any one of the many ‘housewives’ that graced the audience, the author participated in a casual conversation with Roxanne Coady, owner of R.J. Julias, a local bookstore in Madison, CT, that sponsored the evening’s event. It represented the third stop of the British author’s national book tour for the crazily successful Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed . The fiction trilogy details the love affair (sometimes sadomasochistic) between wealthy billionaire Christian Grey and the virginal Anastasia Steele.

Ms. Coady started the discussion by saying she disagreed with comments in the media that suggested the book Fifty Shades of Grey was a step back for women. She explained that Anastasia takes responsibility for her own sexuality (after all she doesn’t sign the sexual contract Christian proposed) and is depicted as having ‘all the power.’ The crowd roared in response…giving the room an atmosphere that resembled that of a pep rally, not an author discussion.

The ages of the fans ranged from college age to eighty-five! This is a mom and daughter that shared the front row with me.

Seeming totally comfortable with the crowd and dropping an occasional ‘f bomb’ in her British accent, Ms. James spoke to her fans as they hung on every word, describing her book as “a real escape..it’s a great holiday.” Inspired by the Twilight series books, Ms. James created her own personal fantasy in a series of three steamy novels of erotica dubbed throughout the media as “mommy porn.”

One woman in the audience bursts out “I just want to tell you that you are a genius.” Geez. According to the critics, the book is not even well written.

Ms. Coady referred to the books as a “gateway drug” – inspiring people that never read to pick up the books and read. With the type of media attention this cultural phenomenon has garnered, who wouldn’t be curious?

The movie rights already sold, Ms. James would not reveal her thoughts on which actor she had in mind for the lead role of Christian, saying it was way too early in the process to divulge any details.

As far as her thoughts on the media criticisms about how the book has affected views on feminism? The author simply said the critics were “giving it far more significance than it deserves.”

When fans questioned why the lead female character in the book was only 21 and not closer in age to the author, Ms. James responded “I think virgins are far more interesting” …then went on to blush when she was asked about women’s orgasms, responding only with “I guess I am really lucky” and left it at that. The mother of two teenage sons (who she claims have not read the book), commented on loving email banter and said “I am a terrible flirt and I really enjoyed doing the email conversations in the book.”

Ms. Coady closed the evening’s discussion by announcing to Ms. James “You have liberated so many women for thinking they don’t matter.”

The author was in tears, genuinely appreciating the standing ovation she received.

After the discussion part of the evening concluded, Ms. James remained very personable and accommodating to all her fans as she signed books. The line of people waiting to have books signed snaked all over the building… but, fans could keep occupied by purchasing a bottle of Beringer while waiting (Christian’s drink of choice).

The long line of fans waiting to have their books signed.

I went into the event wanting to dislike Ms. James, but realized that my beef is not really with her, but rather the media. The author is innocent enough. I do still think I will be disheartened come October when college girls are sporting their Anastasia Steele costumes, complete with bondage paraphernalia, at campus Halloween parties. It does still bother me that young tweeters are discussing the story and photos of the ‘rules’ page from the book are showing up on Instagram. And, I can’t say meeting Ms. James carries the same significance as meeting Khaled Hosseini or Wally Lamb, or even Bobby Flay, but, if Fifty Shades of Grey can bring the happiness I witnessed tonight to women all across the country…kudos to you Ms. James.

Photo of author E. L. James signing my copy of Fifty Shades of Grey.

8 comments

the original sweet & salty

April 29, 2012

easy sweet recipe using saltines

Long, long, ago – when I started my first serious full time job, the woman I worked for brought in a dessert that she had made from saltines crackers. At the time, it seemed very mysterious and unusual. Looking back, it was the first time I really enjoyed the combination of sweet and salty. With salted caramels being so trendy, I was reminded of the old favorite saltine recipe. It is one of the few dessert recipes I have committed to memory, because the measurements are so easy to remember. A nice thing about the recipe is that it only uses four simple ingredients. More recently, I made it for my twenty-something son and he went nuts over it. Makes sense….when I think about it, I was his age when I first went nuts for it. The recipe:

2 sleeves of saltines, 1 stick of butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 cups of chips

Ingredients

2 sleeves of saltine crackers
1 stick of butter (I use unsalted)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with a piece of aluminum foil and give it a light coat of cooking spray.

Arrange the saltines on the foil, covering all the space.

Arrange crackers in a single layer to cover all the space on the pan…you may need to use a couple broken ones to fill in all the spots. Take 20 of the crackers you have left and seal them in a zip-loc bag. Use a rolling pin to crush them up and set the bag aside.

Use a rolling pin to crush 20 of the saltines in a zip-loc bag

Put the butter and brown sugar into a medium size saucepan and stir until it is boiling strong enough that it can’t be stirred down. Then, pour it slowly over the crackers, covering them the best you can. I use a dull knife to carefully spread the mixture evenly, trying to cover most of the cracker layer.

Bake in the oven for 5 minutes..the topping will be bubbling. Remove the pan from the oven and let it sit for about a minute. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top. After a minute or two the chocolate will be soft and you can use a dull knife to spread the chocolate evenly over the crackers. Then, take the bag of crushed cracker crumbs and sprinkle over the top of the hot chocolate.

Let cool slightly, then put the cookie sheet in the refrigerator to set. After about 45 minutes or so, remove the cookie sheet and break the crackers into irregular pieces. Store in a plastic airtight container in the refrigerator…enjoy!

4 comments

11 countries in 60 seconds

April 26, 2012

field trip friday

You can take the same field trip that I am enjoying today without ever leaving your house – actually, without ever even leaving your chair. A perfect day to stay put on a cold, dreary New England day. Today, I am going to take you through eleven countries in sixty seconds….are you ready?

Three friends traveled through eleven countries in fourty four days. They took 18 flights and traveled 38,000 miles. From this trip, they created three one minute video travel logs: Move, Eat, and Learn. All three are inspiring and visually exciting, but the one I keep watching over and over again is Move.

Please watch below…enjoy!

What do you think?

I LOVE sharing my very favorite online video. I am not big on videos online… Sure, I am savvy to Tupac’s hologram video and yes, I know who Tosh is. And, I know that the honey badger went viral, but come on….is Move not the most inspiring sixty seconds EVER? Doesn’t it put a smile on your face? Truly beautiful. Play it a few times today…it’s worth the three minutes. :)

2 comments

prank gone good

April 25, 2012

diy chalkboard magnets

I walked in the living room over the weekend to find my son’s interesting sense of humor in action…our front door (which is metal) was covered on the inside in magnets…you know, the free advertising kind of magnets…they are business card size? Apparently he picked up a few handfuls at some event he attended and thought it would be funny to load the door up with them. So, the next day, as I am removing the magnets (apparently, part of the joke was that he was not planning on removing said magnets) carefully so they didn’t scratch the paint, I am thinking that there must be something clever I can do with all these new- found magnets. I have often thought I would like to purchase magnetic sheets to experiment with, but I really didn’t want to spend the money on them. Now I have TONS for no cost to me (except spending a good amount of time removing them from my door).

Well, I was thinking of attaching pictures by printing favorite photos onto labels with a color printer and stick them onto the magnets, but couldn’t think of any metal surfaces I was interested in putting photos on. Then I remembered the chalkboard Con-Tact paper I had. When I discovered such a product existed, I had to have it, but have not ever put it to use. I originally thought I would use it for gift tags, but I have so many gift tags that I love already I never had reason to use it.

Now, the idea of using the Con-Tact paper on the magnets seemed like such a cool idea and SO SIMPLE to execute! I simply stuck the advertising side of the magnet to the Con-Tact paper and trimmed them appropriately. They are so easy to cut…

Here are some of the magnets I created….

I think these would also be great with the days of the week for the fridge.

Any kind of silhouette is really fun to do.

Chalkboard Con-Tact paper $8 roll

TONS of business card size magnets $0

Old piece of chalk (from the junk drawer) $0

“Making good” on my son’s prank priceless

‘clean’ or ‘dirty’ magnet for the dishwasher

This project is being submitted to Celebrating Everyday Life recycled & repurposed diy project link party.

7 comments

orange appeal

April 19, 2012

do they still make tang?

When I was out and about last weekend I decided to try and find something to rock the orange. Yes, I decided to give in to the orange invasion. If you have been in the stores at all this season you have witnessed the orange take over. It is everywhere. In Manhattan recently, I saw fashionistas all over the city carrying huge orange bags…a big departure from the usual all-black attire.

What exactly is the appeal of the color orange? What are the things that come to my mind when I think of the color orange? Construction sites… Prison uniforms… Mario Batali (okay, I do like him). Tang. Tang was the ‘space’ drink I enjoyed as a kid …do they still make that stuff? ….and as I got a little older, Tango. Tango was an interesting (albeit disgusting) mix of some kind of artificial orange beverage mixed with vodka. Back in ‘the day’ it was considered a much higher end beverage than my usual sloe gin fizzes.

I do give in to so many of the trends as time goes on….no matter how adamant I am about avoiding them.. I always give in. I figure I will get some token orange item and get it over with…satisfy the orange. I can’t go with too much of it because I know it looks awful against my skin. This was confirmed years ago when color ‘seasons’ were popular. I was told I was a winter. Apparently winters DO NOT look good in orange. Winter or not, I definitely agree that orange is not my color.

I decided to walk up and down the aisles of Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Store to get some inspiration and a light bulb went off as I got near the yarn section. I will make a lightweight scarf!! Granted, I know very little about knitting other than the basic knit. I try to mix things up by using two yarns simultaneously or varying the size of the knitting needles. In this way, I can make a scarf look different without really knowing that much about knitting or learning any other stitches. If you pick interesting colors and yarns and/or mix up the sizes of the knitting needles, you can make people think you are an experienced knitter and they will never know you need to use a reference on the internet to remember how to cast on! Here are the yarns and needles sizes I chose:

I used one 15″ knitting needle and one 17″ knitting needle and held the two yarns together and knit them as if they were one.

I merely did straight knitting, but put the two yarns together and knit them as one.

By the way, if price were no object, my orange item would definitely be a pair of Tory Burch flats…now THAT’S an orange crush!

13 comments

jonathan livingston?

April 16, 2012

a picture is worth a thousand words

What a beautiful beach day.

Before the clocks were set ahead last month , I could never get out of work soon enough to see the beach before dark.

There were so many seagulls tonight. I love running down the sand and watching the seagulls take flight. It reminds me of the book Wave by illustrator Suzy Lee.

It is one of my favorite picture books … such a joyful book with beautifully simplistic illustrations.

The book is about a child’s day at the beach where she is followed by a flock of seagulls.

Just like skimming rocks, running after seagulls never gets old :)

2 comments

fun for free

April 16, 2012

thank you Jimmy Fallon!

I am at a point in my life where I have no expendable income. Like so many parents, I am helping my twenty something’s with college to get a good start in their lives and I’m pretty caught up in paying all this ‘good start’ off! This leaves no budget for non-necessities…..least of all for any entertainment expenses. So I am always on the lookout for any good fun for free.. my most recent excursion?

I attended a taping of “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon!” Jimmy Fallon happens to be my favorite comedian and I am a big fan of his late night television show. My favorite segment of the show is ‘thank you notes’ and I was able to score tickets for a Friday episode –the night ’thank you notes’ is a regular segment.

My favorite of Jimmy’s thank you notes at the taping I attended:

“Thank you Swanson’s Hungry Man Microwavable Meals for showing me that steak, mashed potatoes, and a brownie can all be cooked the exact same length of time.”

To attend the taping, I hopped the train and made a trip to “30 Rock” the address made famous by Tina Fey’s comedy show. I recently read her memoir “Bossypants” which made the trip to 30 Rockefeller Plaza all the more ‘fun’.

An added bonus… a beautiful spring afternoon in the city. (Athough the show airs after midnight, it is taped earlier in the afternoon)

Even though it was such a warm day, the ice skaters were still out since the rink stays up until mid-April.

The taping was incredible! What a show! So much more entertaining than watching the show on television and much cooler than I ever imagined. It’s not like I have never been to a taping…..I have been to SNL, quite a few David Letterman shows, and even Rosie back when she had a show. But, this was definitely my favorite of the bunch!

When we got seated in the studio we were greeted and entertained by a comedian. ‘The Roots’ , the house band, performed a number for the studio audience after the warm up by the comedian. If you have ever seen the show you know what an incredibly talented bunch of musicians make up the band. Next, our announcer and Jimmy’s ‘sidekick’ Steve Higgins introduces himself to everyone and, before you know it, the show begins. The day I attended, the guests were Christian Slater and Bethenny Frankel.

Jimmy is the best. I really encourage anyone that is ever in the New York area to attend a taping – you can get information on obtaining tickets on his website. If you aren’t one to stay up late and watch the show, you can always watch episodes….full episodes or segments… on the show’s website: www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com . (I highly recommend the Bruce Springsteen Friday episode if you opt to watch an episode…he performs three songs…. if you are not into Bruce, any episode is good)

Thanks so much Jimmy for a wonderful ‘fun for free’ experience!!

After the taping, as I left the studio, I was walking behind Bethenny….as she started to head out of the building, I heard her talking on her cell phone to Jason (if you have ever seen her reality show, you recognize that name as her husband’s)… I had my camera in my bag, so as I walked out the door, I snapped a photo….

My paparazzi moment: